The Social Psychology of Politics

by Ottati, Victor C.; Tindale, R. Scott; Edwards, John; Bryant, Fred B.; Heath, Linda

• ISBN13: 9780306467233
• ISBN10: 0306467232
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-04-01
• Publisher: Plenum Pub Corp

Summary

Early studies of political behavior examined the sociological, attitudinal, and rational determinants of political behavior. However, none of these approaches provided a descriptive model of how people process political information and make political decisions under naturalistic conditions that involve limited cognitive capacity and motivation. Fortunately, contemporary approaches within the field of political psychology have begun to address these concerns. Inspired by recent advances in the area of social psychology, researchers are rapidly developing more realistic and detailed models of the psychological process that determines political judgements and behavior. Early attempts to merely predict political behavior have been replaced by an attempt to describe the actual process whereby individuals gather, interpret, exchange, and combine information to arrive at a political judgement or decision. This volume provides comprehensive coverage of this pioneering era of research in political psychology.

Table of Contents

Part I: The Psychological Determinants of Candidate Evaluation
The Psychological Determinants of Candidate Evaluation and Voting Preference	3	(26)
Victor C. Ottati
Robert S. Wyer
Megan Deiger
David Houston
Gender Stereotyping and Candidate Evaluation: Good News and Bad News for Women Politicians	29	(26)
Leonie Huddy
Theresa Capelos
The Emotional Voter: Effects of Episodic Affective Reactions on Candidate Evaluation	55	(20)
Linda M. Isbell
Victor C. Ottati
Visual Cues and the Candidate Evaluation Process	75	(14)
Victor C. Ottati
Megan Deiger
Political Eloquence	89	(18)
Daniel C. O'Connell
Sabine Kowal
Part II: Political Psychology and Public Policy
Psychological Determinants of Public Opinion	107	(28)
Linda J. Skitka
Elizabeth Mullen
The Role of Social Ideologies in Legitimizing Political Attitudes and Public Policy	135	(22)
Felicia Pratto
Christie Cathey
The Role of Science and Advocacy Regarding a Ghronic Health Condition: The Case of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome	157	(18)
Leonard A. Jason
Renee R. Taylor
Judith A. Richman
Part III: Collective Political Action: Intra- and Intergroup Perspective
Minority Influence and Political Interest Groups	175	(18)
Christine M. Smith
Polly J. Diven
The Psychology of Collective Political Protest	193	(22)
Dominic Abrams
Georgina Randsley de Moura
Procedural and Agenda Effects on Political Decisions by Small Groups	215	(26)
Tatsuya Kameda
Lorne Hulbert
R. Scott Tindale
Index	241